CASE HISTORY – Implementing an Inventory-based Online Shopping System
Hurley Surfboards was established in Costa Mesa in 1979 and in 2002, Hurley became a wholly owned, independently run subsidiary of Nike, Inc. Today, Hurley delivers world class products to the youth market and is a fashion leader in surf, skate, music and art.
For this initiative, Hurley wanted to develop a “network employee” online shopping system – one strictly for use by Hurley employees and the employees of the Nike, Inc. network, which include Nike, Bauer, Converse, Hurley and Cole Haan. And, they wanted it done within a two-week period.
In initial meetings with Hurley, it became clear that this digital business solution needed to integrate with their legacy system that then tied into a specific warehouse. Part of the challenge in creating an effective solution meant that the inventory of this online store needed to be seasonal only. Once items for spring were launched, the warehouse would not replenish this inventory. In turn, that meant that the online store could only display what was actually available.
So, ASTRALCOM had a few hurdles to overcome in order to deliver the requested functionality. To begin, an authentication-based shopping cart was created that “sits on top” of the inventory where available product display is controlled through an image management system that regularly sweeps the image directories to ensure that everything is accurately displayed and accounted for.
Underneath this architecture, ASTRALCOM developed a digital solution where exported inventory is imported hourly from Hurley’s legacy system into a database via DTS import, called through stored procedures. The inventory is then replenished each time between imports/exports to keep the numbers – and the online store display – accurate.
From a shopper’s perspective, the site incorporates the Hurley logo, brand and overall Hurley lifestyle and look-and-feel. Navigating the cart is an intuitive experience and one that makes shopping easy and quick. The completed shopping cart includes user-friendly features such as:
Finally, when an online order is placed, it is fed directly into the legacy system for fulfillment. Now that’s digital business done right – and within the two-week window that Hurley wanted. Even before we started, Hurley knew that ASTRALCOM was the right e-business team for them. “We made the decision to go with ASTRALCOM based on their amazing reputation for meticulous work and fast paced service” said Pete Rocky, Online Marketing and Business Manager for Hurley.
Without a significant investment, Hurley was able to quickly deploy a fully integrated online commerce solution and open up their business in ways that only the Internet would allow. Now, Hurley can generate extra revenue that would’ve never happened before ASTRALCOM got involved.
If you want to start making money online, you’ve definitely come to the right place. Contact us today to and increase e-commerce sales like this for your business.
